Ok. I just dont get it. Why on earth would someone want to revive a virus? ........NewScientist reports As if there werent enough problems with thawing tundra. A virus of unprecedented size has been isolated from Russian permafrost 30,000 years old and reactivated. Dubbed a pithovirus after the Greek pithos, meaning a large earthenware jar like an amphora, the virus infects amoebas but does not appear to harm human or mouse cells. Even so, now that this virus has been revived from the permafrost, so too could potentially harmful pathogens, possibly including viruses humans have never encountered before, the researchers say. Theres good reason to think there could be pathogenic viruses in there too, says Chantal Abergel of Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France, and co-leader of the team that discovered the virus. newscientist/article/dn25151-biggestever-virus-revived-from-stone-age-permafrost.html#.UxXbz2S9Kc0
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:07:19 +0000
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